Jordan residents weary of fighting violence
by Brandt Williams, Minnesota Public Radio
May 25, 2003

Just over a week after the shooting, a group of neighbors and kids and members of the activist group MAD DADS hold a party on the corner. They've held several of these so far this year. Neighbors gather here and chat and eat free hot dogs and chips. (Brandt Williams)

Recent shootings in a north Minneapolis neighborhood are testing the resolve of its residents. Some neighbors are formulating new ideas of how they can keep crime and hopelessness from taking over the Jordan neighborhood. But at the same time, some have admitted that the shootings illustrate how little has changed and say they are considering moving out.

St. Paul, Minn. —
Almost a year ago, a riot broke out near the corner of 26th and Knox after police officers, conducting a drug raid, accidently shot a young boy. In the immediate aftermath of the riot, some of the neighbors hoped that all of the attention paid to the neighborhood would help bring positive change.

Some things did get better. Open air drug dealing decreased for a bit as more police cars roamed the streets. Two brand new houses have been built near the troubled corner. Activist Don Samuels, a long-time advocate for Jordan, was elected to the City Council.

But lately, residents feel conditions have returned to the way they were before the riot.

"I walked down to the street and my next door neighbor was out and she told me that she had heard five rapid fire succession of shots and saw the car speed off," says Jonathan Odell.

Odell has just moved into the neighborhood and lives two or three houses away from the shooting. In early May he stopped by an anti-violence vigil at the corner of 26th and Knox. Councilmember Samuels made a campaign pledge to hold a vigil everytime someone is killed in his ward. This is his fifth in five weeks. Two of those homicides have happened within a four block radius of this corner.

When asked if the shooting scared him, Odell says he has mixed feelings. "It hasn't {frightened me} yet, and it concerned me when I brought my parents into it. Which is the strange thing, but it was more about what they think and are they going to worry about me. So far it hasn't frightened me, so I don't know if I'm just in denial about it or if it's just something I'm prepared for," he says.

Odell's parents are in town to attend the house warming party he's holding tonight. He brought them to his home from the airport just after the yellow police crime scene tape was taken down.

All of the little kids that are running around here are growing up under the impression that it's just the normal course of business everyday to see people shot on the streets and dealing drugs.- Dennis Plante

Tonight, most of the buzz is about how beautifully Odell has decorated his new house. But some of the neighbors are talking about the shooting. Amid the laughter and playful chatter are expressions of frustration. Some residents say they think the city has resigned itself to merely contain crime and poverty in Jordan, not eradicate it.

Deb Wagner says the police can do more to stop people from driving through Jordan in order to buy drugs from street dealers.

"A sting operation," suggests Wagner, "Watch them make the buy and then have someone set up further down the block in an unmarked car to stop them."

Other neighbors say the city needs to do more to crack down on the landlords who own problem properties. They admit that the city alone cannot end the root causes of crime in the neighborhood. However, Dennis Plante says the city could start by deconcentrating poor people in the area. He says the grouping of low-income people perpetuates a cycle of crime, poverty and hopelessness.

"All of the little kids that are running around here are growing up under the impression that it's just the normal course of business everyday to see people shot on the streets and dealing drugs," says Plante.

Plante lives across the alley from Odell. He's a contractor and he and his wife, Greta, hire young men from the neighborhood for temporary jobs. Plante says he's trying to help them realize there are other less dangerous ways to make money. He and Greta have lived in Jordan since the mid-90's. But now, he says they're thinking about moving.

"It's almost like the little Dutch boy with his fingers in the dike," he says. "I mean there's just too many holes to plug."

Plante is not the only neighbor considering a move.

"Anytime we want to sell our house we can do that, but there are other people here who don't have that option," says Kelly Phillips.

The day after the housewarming party, she is pondering her future in Jordan. Phillips and fellow neighbor Dennis Wagner are clearing weeds out of the community garden at the corner of 26th and Knox. Wagner has been in Jordan for almost 20 years but he's not talking about leaving.

But Phillips, a college student in her early 20s and a budding neighborhood organizer, says sometimes she feels like giving up. She says she hopes it's just a phase she's going through. However, Phillips says she's tired of being afraid to walk out her front door because she attracts the attention of the groups of young men who hang out on her corner. Wagner says he also gets afraid from time to time, but tells her not to let fear get the best of her and encourages her to keep fighting.

"An old Scottish saying just keeps coming back to mind. You can't let them son of a bitches get the best of you!" laughs Wagner.

Just over a week after the shooting, a group of neighbors and kids and members of the activist group MAD DADS hold a party on the corner. They've held several of these so far this year. Neighbors gather here and chat and eat free hot dogs and chips. There will be no criminal activity on the corner tonight as long as the neighbors are here celebrating this one, small victory.